Prik Dong — Pickled Chillies / พริกดอง

Pan-Thai — every regional cuisine uses some form of pickled chilli; the rice vinegar version is the Central Thai standard

Prik dong (pickled chillies in vinegar and salt solution) is the universal Thai condiment — present on every noodle soup table alongside fish sauce, dried chilli, and sugar. Fresh bird's eye or spur chillies are sliced into thin rings and submerged in rice vinegar with a small amount of salt for a minimum of 30 minutes, though overnight is preferable. The acetic acid from the vinegar mellows the heat, slightly softens the chilli flesh, and produces a sharp, sour-hot condiment that brightens noodle soups with a different kind of acid than lime juice — more stable, slightly more pungent. The chilli vinegar itself (poured carefully over noodles) is as important as the chilli pieces.

Prik dong is the fourth element of the Thai condiment table (alongside sugar, fish sauce, and dried chilli powder) — together they allow the diner to fully customise their noodle soup's sweet-salty-sour-hot balance to personal preference.